Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Local graphic designer Ryan Powers put together a "just-for-fun" logo for the "Charlotte Flight" -- one of the formerly proposed names for Charlotte's NBA franchise. Thanks to Ryan for letting us show it here.

I've gotten a lot of suggestions for what the Charlotte Bobcats' new nickname "should" be (I advocated that the Bobcats change their nickname in this column in Tuesday's newspaper and online).

I also received the logo above, which I thought was pretty cool. Ryan Powers, a local graphic designer, did this just for fun and sent it along. Charlotte Flight, if you remember, was the preferred choice of many when the Bobcats narrowed their original nickname list to 3 in 2003: Bobcats, Flight or Dragons.

This is all pie-in-the-sky hypothetical stuff, of course -- the Bobcats have made no apparent effort to change their nickname as of yet. Anything like that wouldn't happen until Michael Jordan officially owned the team (he hasn't been approved as the owner as of yet, although that is expected to be an easy process).

But if you have any comments on this logo and/or a proposed "Charlotte Flight" nickname -- which would also play off of Jordan's longtime association with air, jumping and so on -- post them below. And if you've got a better idea, feel free to post that, too.

Want your voice to be heard? Take our survey on the name change and other Bobcats issues.

41 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Give it up already. I don't understand the big push for a name change. At the end of the day it's still going to boil down to how good the product is. Rather than wasting money on a team name change they would be better suited to direct those funds to promotions, partnerships, etc. The fact of the matter is that Bob Johnson is gone. He's not a bad guy, just didn't run a great team. Keeping the name Bobcats doesn't somehow keep the ghost of him around. Hopefully Jordan will be more hands on and light the necessary fire. I suspect he's going to give it all he's got based on the amount of money on the line.

Need to get the Hornets nickname back. That has historical meaning to the area...the name derived from the city's fierce resistance to British occupation during the Revolutionary War, which prompted Lord General Cornwallis to refer to it as "a veritable nest of hornets."

Barf!! Put a winning team on the floor with an owner that is active in the community and people will come. The name has noting to do with it. If Jordan wants to piss away another $3-10 million to change the name, why not keep the Bobcats name and donate a few million to the schools.

I don't know why the name would have to change, just because the ownership did. I hated to see the name "Hornets" leave though. One aspect of a name change I have not seen discussed here, is the effect on the average fan. For someone that has an interest in the team, but very limited dollars, (which is a lot of people), if they have saved and bought jerseys, etc for a family, they can have a substatial investment in the word Bobcats. Knowing that we need fan involvement, how can you explain to the average fan that they now have to throw away all they have invested in material items, and just go out and purchase more. Not a good way to get off to a good start.

Jordan should broker a deal to get the Hornets name back in Charlotte, ship the Jazz name back to New Orleans, and Utah can have a brand new name like the Utah Mountain Lions, Utah Range, Utah Elk, or Utah Mormons.

The name "Charlotte Flight" sounds pretty lame. The logo looks the same. Are we promoting a team or an Air Hub? I like the idea of reviving the name "Carolina Cougars" along with a stretched out logo. Let's make this a team NC & SC fans can support, not just the citizens of Charlotte.

This team does not need to change its name to Carolina. Have some pride in your city, Charlotte. We already have the Carolina Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. You want Charlotte to be a first-rate major US City? Stop naming your sports team after your state, which happens to share its name with ANOTHER state. This city will never be anything more than it is now if it continues to overlook its own identity in favor of the state. Charlotte does not have a nationally-recognized or well-known Universtiy or Hospital to distinguish themselves, so at least name a freaking pro sports team after it!

This logo is lame beyond belief. Should I even point out that the "plane" has no obvious means of power? I don't see any rotors... nor do I see any jet intakes. I see some guns or something. So... it's an armed glider or something?

The name Flights has no personality, like flight could mean to run away scared or maybe it refers to rich sports players who leave their wives. This reasoning of identity in trying to find a name doesn't work. That would be like coming up with Bob Cats = Mike Cats. Or, like Charlotte Hub, its stupid. Charlotte has no historic soul, like when I moved here and asked what food is Charlotte famous for, someone said, Mexican, wow!. If I had the magic name, it would cost them $30,000 and I wouldn't share it here. Just play the game, suckers.

Why does the name have to be tied to anything relating to Charlotte? If we're going to name the team after an animal, why can't it be something different with a little bit of an edge, like the Scorpions or the Rattlers or the Yard Dogs. I don't get why the name has to be tied to something about the city or the state. Yes, Hornets was a good name and the historical reference to the Revolutionary War is cool, but lets face it, George Shinn sold his soul to get that name, and we aint getting it back. So let's think outside the box this time and try something different, not the lame "Flight" or the "Trees" as someone suggested way back because Myers Park has big trees. That's just goofy.

Flight is a good name with its ties to Jordan brand and its relevance to the state's history... that logo, however would never get anyone hyped about that name. Take that logo down. Its is doing more harm to your cause than good.

Carolina Cooperheads or Carolina CottonMouths?. Carolina Crocs? But if We do change from the Bobcats to the Flight or the Air, the logo needs to be MJ's Jumpman symbol and the colors of any of the above need to be bold. Something like black & silver(grey)with a hint of teal or light blue

I really like Cooperheads or CottonMouths. Its funny that all these people are saying get a life and give it and when they are taking the time to post a comment. If you dont care, dont post anything. But Bobcats is good, the colors are wack tho